U.S. patent number 8,945,266 [Application Number 13/296,376] was granted by the patent office on 2015-02-03 for oil separator.
This patent grant is currently assigned to Kobe Steel, Ltd.. The grantee listed for this patent is Yasushi Amano, Michiko Maeda, Shoji Yoshimura. Invention is credited to Yasushi Amano, Michiko Maeda, Shoji Yoshimura.
United States Patent |
8,945,266 |
Yoshimura , et al. |
February 3, 2015 |
Oil separator
Abstract
An oil separator has a container main body and an flow channel.
A partition wall member faces the opening of the flow channel and
extends along a wall of the container main body. An upper end
member seals the space between the upper end of the partition wall
member and the container main body. A side end member seals a space
between one side end of the partition wall member and the wall of
the container main body. A gap between the partition wall member
and the wall of the container main body is narrower than an inner
diameter of the flow channel and is largest at an open side end. An
outer circumference of the partition wall member is longer than
half of the inner diameter of the flow channel and shorter than
half of the circumferential length of the inner wall of the
container main body.
Inventors: |
Yoshimura; Shoji (Hyogo,
JP), Maeda; Michiko (Takasago, JP), Amano;
Yasushi (Takasago, JP) |
Applicant: |
Name |
City |
State |
Country |
Type |
Yoshimura; Shoji
Maeda; Michiko
Amano; Yasushi |
Hyogo
Takasago
Takasago |
N/A
N/A
N/A |
JP
JP
JP |
|
|
Assignee: |
Kobe Steel, Ltd. (Kobe-shi,
JP)
|
Family
ID: |
45093464 |
Appl.
No.: |
13/296,376 |
Filed: |
November 15, 2011 |
Prior Publication Data
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Document
Identifier |
Publication Date |
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US 20120151888 A1 |
Jun 21, 2012 |
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Foreign Application Priority Data
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Dec 17, 2010 [JP] |
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2010-281330 |
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Current U.S.
Class: |
55/462; 55/459.4;
55/337; 55/447; 55/457; 55/456 |
Current CPC
Class: |
F25B
43/02 (20130101); F25B 2500/01 (20130101); F25B
2400/02 (20130101) |
Current International
Class: |
B01D
45/08 (20060101) |
Field of
Search: |
;55/337,447,456,457,459.4,462 |
References Cited
[Referenced By]
U.S. Patent Documents
Foreign Patent Documents
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57-127883 |
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Aug 1982 |
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JP |
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2002-143617 |
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May 2002 |
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JP |
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2004-52710 |
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Feb 2004 |
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JP |
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2010-260026 |
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Nov 2010 |
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JP |
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Other References
Office Action issued Apr. 23, 2013 in Japanese Application No.
2010-281330 (With English Translation). cited by applicant .
Extended European Search Report issued Apr. 12, 2013 in Patent
Application No. 11190465.2. cited by applicant.
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Primary Examiner: Bui; Dung H
Attorney, Agent or Firm: Oblon, Spivak, McClelland, Maier
& Neustadt, L.L.P
Claims
What is claimed is:
1. An oil separator, comprising: a substantially cylindrical
container main body; an introduction flow channel having an opening
into an inner wall of said container main body, and that is
substantially vertically connected to said container main body; a
partition wall member facing said opening of said introduction flow
channel and extending along said inner wall of said container main
body; an upper end member sealing a space between an upper end of
said partition wall member and said inner wall of said container
main body; and a side end member sealing a space between a first
side end of said partition wall member and said inner wall of said
container main body, the first side end being closer to the opening
of the introduction flow channel than a second side end of said
partition wall member opposite the first side end, wherein said
second side end of said partition wall member is open with respect
to said container main body, wherein a lower end of said partition
wall member, which is opposite the upper end, is open with respect
to said container main body, wherein a gap between said partition
wall member and said inner wall of said container main body has a
width that is not more than an inner diameter of said introduction
flow channel, the width of said gap being at a maximum at least at
said second side end which is open with respect to said container
main body, wherein a length of an outer circumference of said
partition wall member in a horizontal direction from a position
facing a center of said introduction flow channel to the open side
end is longer than a half of the inner diameter of said
introduction flow channel and shorter than a half of a
circumferential length of said inner wall of said container main
body, wherein said partition wall member is arranged such that the
width of said gap between said partition wall member and said inner
wall of said container main body is at a minimum at the side end
sealed by said side end member and is gradually wider toward the
open side end, wherein the length of the outer circumference of
said partition wall member in the horizontal direction from the
position facing the center of said introduction flow channel to the
open side end is longer than one sixth of the circumferential
length of said inner wall of said container main body and shorter
than one third of the circumferential length of said inner wall of
said container main body, wherein a vertical length of said
partition wall member at the open side end is longer than a
vertical length of said partition wall member at the side end
sealed by said side end member, and wherein said upper end member
is downwardly inclined from a part of said upper end member above
said introduction flow channel toward the open side end of said
partition wall member.
Description
BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION
1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an oil separator, particularly to
an oil separator suitable for separating cooling oil from gas
discharged from an oil cooling type compressor.
2. Description of the Related Art
In general, in facility using an oil cooling type compressor, an
oil separator that blows gas discharged from an oil cooling type
compressor into a container so as to inertially separate or
centrifugally separate cooling oil contained in the discharged gas
is widely used.
Japanese Unexamined Patent Application Publication No.
S57(1982)-127883 describes an invention of an oil separator in
which a fluid inlet is provided in an upper part of a side wall of
a vertical type cylindrical container, a fluid outlet is provided
in an upper lid of the cylindrical container, and an oil separation
element is provided so as to cover the fluid outlet, wherein an
inner cylinder is provided so as to surround the oil separation
element, a partition plate seals a space between the cylindrical
container and the inner cylinder at a position near the fluid
inlet, and a fluid entering the cylindrical container performs
circular motion through a flow passage between the cylindrical
container and the inner cylinder so as to centrifugally separate
cooling oil, enters the interior of the inner cylinder from an
inflow port provided in the vicinity of the partition plate, passes
through the oil separation element, and flows out of the fluid
outlet.
In recent years, in order to improve a maintenance property and to
reduce a pressure loss in an oil separator, a small oil separator
with a simpler configuration is desired. At the same time,
improvement of an oil separation performance is also strongly
desired. A heat exchanger (a condenser) of a refrigeration device
particularly shows an extremely low heat exchanging performance
when a mixed amount of oil exceeds a certain amount. Thus, a
sufficient oil separation capability is required for an oil
separator provided between an oil cooling type compressor and a
heat exchanger (the condenser).
SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION
In consideration of the above problems, an object of the present
invention is to provide an oil separator having high oil separation
efficiency with a simple and small structure.
In order to solve the above problems, an oil separator according to
the present invention includes: a substantially cylindrical
container main body; an introduction flow channel that opens into
an inner wall of the container main body, and is substantially
vertically connected to the container main body; a partition wall
member facing the opening of the introduction flow channel and
extending along the inner wall of the container main body; an upper
end member sealing a space between an upper end of the partition
wall member and the inner wall of the container main body; and a
side end member sealing a space between one side end of the
partition wall member and the inner wall of the container main
body, wherein a gap between the partition wall member and the inner
wall of the container main body has a width that is not more than
an inner diameter of the introduction flow channel, and becomes the
maximum at least at an open side end where the side end member is
not provided, and wherein length of an outer circumference of the
partition wall member in the horizontal direction from a position
facing a center of the introduction flow channel to the open side
end is longer than a half of the inner diameter of the introduction
flow channel and shorter than a half of circumferential length of
the inner wall of the container main body.
With such a configuration, the oil separation efficiency can be
enhanced.
In the above oil separator, it is preferable that the length of the
outer circumference of the partition wall member in the horizontal
direction from the position facing the center of the introduction
flow channel to the open side end is longer than one sixth of the
circumferential length of the inner wall of the container main body
and shorter than one third of the circumferential length of the
inner wall of the container main body.
In the above oil separator, height of the partition wall member at
the open side end may be longer than height thereof at the side end
sealed by the side end member.
In the above oil separator, the upper end member may be downwardly
inclined from a part of the upper end member above the introduction
flow channel toward the open side end of the partition wall
member.
In the above oil separator, the partition wall member may be
arranged such that the width of the gap between the partition wall
member and the inner wall of the container main body becomes the
minimum at the side end sealed by the side end member and gradually
wider toward the open side.
The present inventors made several samples of oil separators and
implemented several experiments, and found that cooling oil mixed
into gas discharged from an oil cooling type compressor can be made
to be not more than 1,000 ppm by making the width of a gap G
between the inner wall of the container main body and the partition
wall member be not more than an inner diameter d of the
introduction flow channel, and making circumferential length L of
the partition wall member in the horizontal direction from the
position facing the center of the introduction flow channel to the
open side end be longer than a half of the inner diameter of the
introduction flow channel (d/2) and shorter than a half of the
circumferential length of the inner wall of the container main body
(.pi.D/2).
BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS
FIG. 1 is a horizontally sectional view of an oil separator of a
first embodiment of the present invention;
FIG. 2 is a vertically sectional view of the oil separator of FIG.
1;
FIG. 3 is a graph showing a relationship between an oil mixed
amount and a deterioration degree of a heat exchanging performance
in a condenser of a refrigeration device;
FIG. 4 is a graph showing a relationship between length of a
partition wall member on one side of the oil separator of FIG. 1
and an amount of oil that is not separated and remains;
FIG. 5 is a horizontally sectional view of an oil separator of a
second embodiment of the present invention; and
FIG. 6 is a vertically sectional view of the oil separator of FIG.
5.
DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS
Hereinafter, embodiments of the present invention will be described
with reference to drawings. FIGS. 1 and 2 show an oil separator 1
of a first embodiment of the present invention. The oil separator 1
is mainly used to separate cooling oil from gas discharged from an
oil cooling type screw compressor (not shown), and intended to be
arranged between the oil cooling type screw compressor and a
condenser (a heat exchanger) in a refrigeration device.
The oil separator 1 has a container main body 2 formed into an
upright bottomed cylinder shape having a diameter D, and a lid body
3 for sealing an upper end opening of the container main body 2. An
introduction flow channel 4, which introduces the discharged gas,
is radially disposed on the container main body 2, that is,
disposed vertically on a side wall of the container main body 2,
and an opening 4a having an inner diameter d is formed in an inner
wall 2a of the container main body 2.
A partition wall member 5 extending along the inner wall 2a is
arranged in the container main body 2 so as to face the opening 4a.
The partition wall member 5 is supported relative to the container
main body 2 by an upper end member 6 provided so as to seal a space
between an upper end of the partition wall member 5 and the inner
wall 2a, and a side end member 7 provided so as to seal a space
between one side end of the partition wall member 5 and the inner
wall 2a. A gap G having a fixed width not more than the inner
diameter d of the opening 4a is formed between the partition wall
member 5 and the inner wall 2a.
The height of the partition wall member 5 is preferably about 4
times more than the inner diameter d. However, the height is not
limited to this length but may be appropriately adjusted so as to
obtain a sufficient oil separation characteristic.
Positions of the upper end member 6 and the side end member 7, that
is, an upper end position and a sealed circumferential side end
position of the partition wall member 5, may be appropriately
determined in consideration of attachment (welding) of the upper
end member 6 and the side end member 7 in the vicinity of the
opening 4a.
An exhaust port 8 opening in the center direction of the container
main body 2 is formed in a center part of the lid body 3. A liquid
discharge port 9 for discharging the separated oil is formed in a
bottom part of the container main body 2. The lid body 3 is fixed
to the container main body 2 with a plurality of bolts 10.
In the oil separator 1 of the present embodiment, the partition
wall member 5 covers the opening 4a of the introduction flow
channel 4, that is, is arranged on an extension line of the
introduction flow channel 4 so as to obstruct a way of the gas
radially flowing into the container main body 2 from the
introduction flow channel 4. Due to this, the partition wall member
5 firstly receives the flow of the gas introduced from the
introduction flow channel 4, and inertially separates the cooling
oil accompanying the gas, or the cooling oil that flows on a bottom
part of the introduction flow channel 4 into the inside of the
container main body together with gas. A liquid inertially
separated by the partition wall member 5 trickles down along the
partition wall member 5 and collected in a lower part of the
container main body 2.
Further, once the gas is prevented from flowing by the partition
wall member 5, the gas flows along a flow passage, which is formed
by the gap between the inner wall 2a and the partition wall member
5, in the direction in which the upper end member 6 and the side
end member 7 are not provided in the partition wall member 5, that
is, toward the open end side of the partition wall member 5 and
downward. That is, the gas introduced into the container main body
2 forms a downward spiral stream along the inner wall 2a. The
cooling oil in the gas is further centrifugally separated by
centrifugal force of this spiral stream and attaches to the inner
wall 2a, trickles down along the inner wall 2a, and is collected in
the lower part of the container main body 2.
A large number of samples of the present embodiment with various
lengths L of an outer circumference of the partition wall member 5
in the horizontal direction from a position facing a center of the
introduction flow channel 4 to the open side end were made, and an
experiment in which the oil is separated from a coolant discharged
from the oil cooling type screw compressor of the refrigeration
device was implemented. In this experiment, a separation capability
of the oil separator 1 is evaluated by taking a mixed amount of the
cooling oil that is contained in the coolant and passes through the
oil separator 1 as an indicator.
As shown in FIG. 3, the condenser positioned downstream of the oil
separator 1 shows decrease of a heat exchanging capability when a
mixed ratio of the cooling oil exceeds 1,000 ppm. Thus, when the
mixed ratio of the cooling oil can be made to be not more than
1,000 ppm, it can be evaluated that the oil separator 1 can exert a
sufficient separation capability. It should be noted that a
deterioration degree of the heat exchanging capability is indicated
by a decrease ratio of thermal conductivity in the condenser. For
example, when the thermal conductivity in the condenser is 90% of a
thermal conductivity that is obtained when cooling oil is not
contained in coolant at all, the deterioration degree is 10%.
As shown in FIG. 4, it is confirmed that when the circumferential
length L of the partition wall member 5 in the horizontal direction
from the position facing the center of the introduction flow
channel 4 to the open side end is longer than a half of the inner
diameter d (d/2) of the introduction flow channel 4 and shorter
than a half of the circumferential length of the inner wall
(.pi.D/2) of the container main body 2, the mixed amount of the
cooling oil that is contained in the coolant and passes through the
oil separator 1 can be made to be not more than 1,000 ppm.
As is clear from FIG. 4, it is more preferable that the above
length L is longer than one sixth of the inner diameter d (.pi.D/6)
of the introduction flow channel 4 and shorter than one third of
the circumferential length of the inner wall (.pi.D/3) of the
container main body 2. It is further preferable that the above
length L is substantially one fourth of the inner diameter d
(.pi.D/4) of the introduction flow channel 4.
As a result of the experiment performed with various gaps G between
the partition wall member 5 and the inner wall 2a that have various
widths, it was confirmed that the effect of separating the cooling
oil became lower with the larger width of gap G, however, a
substantially constant separation capability could be exerted
irrespective of the width of the gap G, when the width of the gap G
is not more than the inner diameter d of the introduction flow
channel 4.
Next, an oil separator 1a of a second embodiment of the present
invention is shown in FIGS. 5 and 6. It should be noted that, in
the explanation of the present embodiment, the same constituent
elements as the first embodiment will be given the same reference
numerals, and duplicated description thereof will be omitted.
In the present embodiment, positions of an upper end and lower end
of the partition wall member 5 gradually become lower from the side
end sealed by the side end member 7 towards the open side, and the
upper end member 6 is downwardly inclined from its part above the
introduction flow channel 4 toward the open side end of the
partition wall member 5. This promotes formation of the downward
spiral stream.
Further, in the partition wall member 5, the height of the open
side end is longer than the height of the side end sealed by the
side end member 7. Since gas is more diffused on downstream side of
the stream and flow width of the stream becomes wider, the above
shape is intended to sufficiently guide the stream and form the
spiral stream.
The present embodiment has both the characteristic that the
positions of the upper end and lower end of the partition wall
member 5 gradually become lower from the side end sealed by the
side end member 7 towards the open side, and the characteristic
that the height of the open side end of the partition wall member 5
is longer than the height of the sealed side end thereof. However,
the present embodiment may have any one of the characteristics.
Even such an embodiment promotes the formation of the downward
spiral stream.
The partition wall member 5 of the present embodiment is arranged
such that the width of the gap between the partition wall member 5
and the inner wall 2a of the container main body 2 becomes the
minimum at the side end sealed by the side end member 7 and becomes
gradually wider toward the open side end. This is because the gas
easily flows in the direction in which the width of the gap becomes
wider, and the formation of the spiral stream in the intended
circular direction becomes easier. At this time, a maximum value of
the width of the gap between the partition wall member 5 and the
inner wall 2a, that is, the width of the gap G in the open side end
may be made to be not more than the inner diameter d of the
introduction flow channel 4.
* * * * *